Gruyère Cheeseboard with Oatcakes Recipe

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Add the oats, buckwheat flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt to a food processor

Pulse until the oats are partly broken down and the mixture is thoroughly blended – you can choose here whether you want your oatcakes to be rustic (less blending) or more refined (more blending). I go for somewhere in between, but it’s nice to be able to see and taste some whole oats in the finished biscuit

Add the butter and pulse until it has been mostly incorporated and the consistency is of large breadcrumbs

Drizzle in the hot water and pulse until the dough comes together. The amount of water you will need may vary depending on the oats in the flour, but the final dough should not be too moist as it will stick when you try to roll it out. When I first made these biscuits, I was concerned my dough was too dry, but after baking, the consistency was just right

Lay a piece of greaseproof baking paper on a work surface and tip the dough onto the paper. Press the dough together with your hands to form a rough ball. Roll the dough out approximately 0.5cm thick and use a biscuit cutter to stamp out the oatcakes

Using a spatula, carefully transfer the biscuits to a baking sheet, pressing the remaining dough back into a ball and rolling out again to make more biscuits – you may need to sprinkle it with a little water if it has dried out

Dampen the tops of the biscuits and sprinkle over some crushed hazelnuts and black pepper to garnish – there is no need to roast the hazelnuts in advance as they will roast as the oatcakes cook

Bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Cool on a wire rack

Roast the hazelnuts – this dramatically improves their nutty flavour. Spread them on a baking sheet (you can do this while you cook the biscuits) and roast for about 10 minutes

Serve the buckwheat oatcakes with a couple of slices of Gruyère Reserve AOP, a tiny drizzle of buckwheat honey, a sprinkle of roasted hazelnuts and the fresh blackberries – with a little Port for sipping